


Dirtbag

by nitpickyabouttrains



Category: Bandom, Wheatus (Band)
Genre: F/M, Gun (mention), Lyrics as conversation, Radio, Song - Freeform, iron maiden (band) - Freeform, teenage dirtbag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2021-01-05 18:35:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21213194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nitpickyabouttrains/pseuds/nitpickyabouttrains
Summary: Her name was Noelle.And, man, did she need to break up with her boyfriend. Preferably in a way that did not piss him off. Because if there was one thing Noelle was sure of, it was that Leo was a dick.





	Dirtbag

**Author's Note:**

  * For [angelheadedhipster](https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelheadedhipster/gifts).

> Look, I don’t really know what this is. I just really love this song and I wrote a thing. 
> 
> Sort of a gift because I wrote it and then you asked for it? But also maybe it was on a list of Yuletide ideas. But also I don’t remember that.

Her name was Noelle.

And, man, did she need to break up with her boyfriend. Preferably in a way that did not piss him off. Because if there was one thing Noelle was sure of, it was that Leo was a dick.

What kind of an asshole thought it was a good idea to bring his father’s gun to school? Weren’t there enough  _ fun _ ways to get in trouble without veering into the dangerous and downright stupid?

“What do you think?” Leo asked, her, leaning against the closed locker next to his. He had a hand on the open door of his own locker, boxing her between himself and the metal door.

Leo had almost a foot on her, Noelle was not all that tall. But he was stick thin, barely had any shoulders or bulk at all. Noelle wasn’t a big person, but she ran track, so she had some muscles. Enough to force her way out of the circle of his arms if she wanted to.

And she did want to.

Feeling his warm breath on her neck was sending shivers down her spine. Feeling him so close made her want to punch something. Or run.

But the cold dark metal sitting in the locker in front of her was stopping her.

He wouldn’t use it, she didn’t think. But she was not sure enough to bet her life on it.

“It’s-“ she fumbled for something to say, anything. It wasn’t cool or interesting, which was how Leo had gotten her to look in his locker, saying he had something to show her. On the other hand, she couldn’t do what she actually wanted either, which was yell at him for being an idiot. “Ah-“

The bell rang, and both Leo and Noelle jumped.

“I got to go to class,” Noelle said quickly, ducking underneath his arm and running off down the hallway. She had never been so happy for a school bell in her life.

She had chemistry next, followed by gym class at the end of the day. Then she had a shift at the radio station after school. Homework after that. She didn’t have time to freak out. She didn’t have time to plan. 

The thing was, Leo hadn’t always been a dick. She liked to think that if he had, she never would have gone out with him. 

When they were sophomores, he had seemed so cool. He was one of the first ones in their grade to get a car, the summer after their sophomore year. An I-Roc two seater convertible.

The day he offered to give her a ride home, she had felt like she was on top of the world. 

He made her feel special. 

But sometime between that first ride and now, the end of their senior year, almost two years later, she realized that having a kick ass car did not make a person interesting. It didn’t make a person special. Any idiot could have a cool car. 

Prom was only a few weeks away, at least, and then graduation, and then she would be out of here. One more summer at the radio station and Noelle was off to college and out of this small town. 

She could make it three more weeks. 

All she had to do was keep her head down. And, ideally, keep away from Leo. 

Her walkman was in her pocket, the Iron Maiden cassette already wound to her favorite song. Once class was over she slipped on her headphones and let herself tune out to life in school. 

She walked down the hallway, jamming to the music, not paying attention to the people around her. 

One of her tube socks slid down her leg a little, bunching up at her keds. But she didn’t stop to fix it. Who cared what she looked like, anyway. 

She was so close to home-free. 

+++

Noelle’s favorite thing about working for the radio station was definitely all the free stuff. Record labels were always leaving giveaways, and the people who worked their all split it up, depending on what it was. 

Her second favorite thing about working for the radio station was hearing which songs people requested over and over. 

The best was this one guy, who called himself Brendan, who called in to ask for Iron Maiden like three times a day. She was pretty sure he went to her school, though she would not have been able to pick him out in a lineup. 

If Noelle didn’t have access to her tapes, she would have been calling in for the same songs. 

Iron Maiden just sort of spoke to her, these days. She wanted to be listening to it all the time. She wanted to be shaking out her hair, jumping up and down, and letting the music flow through her. 

Which was why she froze when she was sorting the mail and came upon the Iron Maiden stamped envelope. She tore it open, barely able to contain her excitement. There were six tickets inside to the show they were doing in the city two hours away. 

She closed the envelope, taking a deep breath, and then opened it again. Six tickets. 

“Hey, Noelle, what you got there?” Bill, her boss asked. 

Noelle tried to loosen her grip on the tickets, she really did, but she was holding onto them for dear life. “Tickets to Iron Maiden,” she said. 

“Oh yeah, the manager called and said they were sending some,” Bill nodded, like this was a totally normal every day occurrence. “We are supposed to do a few give-aways. You know, play some of the new music, promote the band a little.”

“How many?” Noelle was honestly surprised she was able to get the words out of her mouth. 

“How many, what?” Bill asked, not understanding. 

“How many giveaways are you supposed to do?” Noelle clarified. And then the words came out of her in a rush. “Because I would do anything for some of these tickets. Even just one. Seriously, I would sell my soul. I am supposed to work all summer, you can dock my pay for weeks.”

Bill held up a hand to stop her. “Whoah, whoah, whoah. Calm down there. How many tickets did they send?”

“Six,” Noelle said, looking down at the envelope, and then up at him again. 

He considered her for a moment. “Okay, let’s say you take two of them. We still have enough for two giveaways.”

“Thank you,” Noelle said, jumping up and down. “Thank you. Thank you.”

“AND,” Bill said, talking over her excitement, “You work the 1am shift every night for two weeks in July.”

“Yes, of course, yes,” Noelle agreed, unable to believe her good luck. “I will work the 1am shift all of July if it means I get to go to the show.”

Bill smirked at her. “Two weeks is enough. Now get back to work.”

Noelle did not need to be told twice. She pocketed two of the tickets, filing the other four into the folder where they kept give-aways. She went back to sorting the mail, pressing her lips together to keep the smile from growing too big on her face. 

The concert wasn’t until after school was over. The Friday after, to be exact. It was a long way off. 

Still, she could feel the tickets burning a hole in her pocket. They were little bits of lightning, of hope. Something she could look forward to. 

She was even excited about taking the 1am to 5am shift. She was usually awake then anyway, and people rarely called in that late. It would be a whole block of time where she could play whatever music she wanted, control the station. 

Noelle’s summer was looking up. Now all she needed to do was get rid of Leo. 

+++

“Get out of my way, dirtbag,” Leo yelled out his window, as the I-Roc swerved around the corner. 

Noelle watched the kid on the bike try to steer out of the way in time. He managed to avoid getting hit by the car, but Noelle saw him loose his balance and fall down in the grassy lawn of one of the houses they were passing. 

“Who was that?” Noelle asked, gripping the handle on the doorway. Her knuckles were practically white from the pressure. 

The kid looked familiar, but she could not figure out from where. Dark brown hair, not exactly short, but just barely long enough to fall into his eyes. He was wearing a black t-shirt with the Metallica logo on it. 

Maybe she had seen him in the record store? Or maybe he also worked at the radio station. She was certainly not the only intern there. 

“Just some kid who lives on my block. Our moms used to always try and make us be friends” Leo said. “Not that I give a damn.”

“Huh,” Noelle frowned. Maybe that was where she recognized him from. She was at Leo’s place enough, his mom loved her and was always inviting her to stay for dinner. She might have just passed him on the street a few times and not realized. “Were you friends when you were little?”

“No, I used to pretend that I couldn’t remember his name, whenever our parents left us together,” Leo gave her a shit-eating grin. “Just to mess with his head, you know?”

Noelle did not know. “That sounds messed up.”

“It was funny, believe me,” Leo huffed. But he seemed to sense he was not getting anywhere with her on the issue. “I don’t even know why we are talking about him.” 

Noelle rolled her eyes. “Because you basically just ran him off the road.”

“No I didn’t,” Leo said, turning his head a little and pointing behind them. She really wished he would keep his eyes on the road. “See, Brendan is fine.”

Noelle looked in the side-mirror and sure enough the kid was standing up, brushing himself off. There seemed to be a twig in his hair, but otherwise he looked no worse for wear. It didn’t seem like he was having a good day, but at least he wasn’t grievously injured. 

It was his name which struck her. Brendan, Leo had called him. What were the chances that he was the same Brendan who kept calling into the radio station? It wasn’t that common of a name at their school. She didn’t know any other Brendans. 

And his shirt, that made her think it too. Most kids their age liked softer music. But he was wearing a Metallica shirt. Maybe he listened to the same sort of stuff as her?

Noelle hadn’t asked anyone to the Iron Maiden show yet. None of her friends liked that sort of music. And there was no way she was going to take Leo. By the time she graduated she was going to be done with him, no matter what. 

Even if she was putting off breaking up with him, for these last few weeks. 

He was an ass, but Prom was coming up, and they had been planning to go together for all of Junior and Senior year. A small part of her was not willing to give that up yet. 

The concert was after, though. And she wanted to go with someone else who would appreciate the music. 

+++

Noelle started to pay attention to Brendan. 

It wasn’t hard, she didn’t have to go out of her way. It was a small school. Once she started looking for him, he seemed to be everywhere. In the hall in between classes, in the back of her lunch period, even in her gym class. 

He was always seemed to be wearing band shirts. She recognized most of them from albums they played at the radio station. It made him stand out, just a little. People didn’t really dress like that in their school. It made him seem a little brave. 

Noelle liked the music, but she never wore anything that would make her stand out. Her wardrobe was all jeans, babydoll t-shirts, mini skirts when it got hot, and the occasional flannel. She had a patchwork jacket she was particularly proud of, but it wasn’t the season for it. She dressed like that because she didn’t want to stand out. 

High school wasn’t for expressing herself, it was for surviving. 

There always seemed to be headphones around Brendan’s neck or over his ears. Noelle could relate to that. She put on her music whenever she could too. It was just harder, with Leo around. 

One time, she walked passed him just as someone else called out to him, and he moved his headphones off his ears without pausing the music. She could hear the familiar beats of  _ Killers _ coming out of it from feet away. 

“Fuck off, teenage dirtbag,” Leo sneered at Brendan, shoving past him, as they walked down the hall. “I’ll kick your ass.”

Apparently she had not been as subtle as she thought about paying attention to Brendan. 

“Leo, what are you doing?” Noelle asked, following him, forcing herself not to shoot Brendan an apologetic look over her shoulder as Leo stormed away. 

“He was looking at you,” Leo said, like that was reason enough to act like a dick. 

Noelle held back a sigh. Had he been looking at her? Wasn’t it the other way around. “So what if he was? It’s a hallway, people look at each other.”

“He’s just a teenage dirtbag,” Leo repeated, like it was the most clever name. 

“We are in high school,” Noelle rolled her eyes, because it really wasn’t a good put-down. “We are all teenagers.”

At least they wouldn’t be in high school much longer. Noelle was counting down the days, the hours until she was free. 

“Why are you defending him?” Leo asked, stopping in the middle of the hallway. 

Noelle did not want a scene. She took his hand and gave him a small smile, hoping it would be enough to diffuse the situation. “I’m not. Come on, let’s go get a good table for lunch.”

Leo resisted for half a second, before nodding and letting her lead them toward the cafeteria. 

+++

Raining on prom night. 

It felt so cliched. 

The school gym smelled like mold and everyone was a little soggy. Noelle was glad they had taken pictures before they left, because by the time they got to the gym and the official portraits, her makeup was no longer perfect and her hair was frizzing. 

“Ugh, this sucks,” Leo said, looking around at all their fellow seniors. 

Tomorrow was graduation, the last time they would all be together as a class. The last time they would all see each other. 

Noelle was not going to miss high school. She was not going to miss this small town. She was not going to miss Leo. But there was a certain nostalgia to the night. To having one final gathering with these people she had known her whole life. 

“It’s not so bad,” Noelle tried to hedge, though she knew she did not sound convincing. 

“I say we get out of here,” Leo said, turning toward the door. “Our parents got to see us off. We took the pictures. That’s enough dress-up for one night. Let’s blow this joint.”

He started walking, tugging on her arm as he went. 

Noelle dug her heels in, forcing him to stop. She pulled her arm out of his grip and crossed it over her chest. “You can go if you want. I’m staying.”

“You’re my date, and I’m your ride” Leo reminded her. “If I go, you have to go too.”

Noelle could feel the power gathering in her body. It felt like when the chorus came in her favorite Iron Maiden song. “I’m not your date anymore, Leo. Or your girlfriend. We are through.” 

Leo’s face turned bright red. His fists clenched at his sides. But then, he seemed to realize where he was, standing in the middle of a school gym in a rented tux. There were teachers around, and everyone was watching. He wasn’t going to be able to get away with anything at this moment. 

“This isn’t over,” he said, before turning and stomping out of the room. 

“Yes, it is,” Noelle said to his back. 

She let out a sigh of relief, before turning back to the room. She felt tall. She felt invincible. 

Noelle saw Brendan standing off to the side, by himself. He was wearing a band tshirt again, this time underneath a suit jacket. It sent a bolt of energy through her. She still had the adrenaline coursing through her, she felt brave. So she started walking over to him. 

“I’ve got two tickets to Iron Maiden,” she said, before she could stop herself or think it through. “Come with me Friday.”

Brendan was staring at her like she had two heads. His mouth opened and closed and then opened again. His hand came up, palm out, like he was telling her to stop. “I- but I’m just- ” he started to say. 

“Don’t say  _ maybe _ ,” Noelle said, cutting him off. Then she grinned at him, thinking back to what Leo had shouted out the window. “I’m just a teenage dirtbag, baby, like you.”


End file.
